Dance, Dance, Darling
by Majesa
Summary: Sakura and Sasuke are married, but now things are dull between them. Sakura is looking for excitement, and she finds it secretly in a certain someone. NejiSaku.
1. Lacking Husband

Dance, Dance, Darling

By: Majesa

Disclaimer: I will pretend that this is necessary, and say that I do not own the series Naruto. Done with that.

Chapter 1: Lacking Husband

What she should have said was "Welcome home." What she should have said was "Glad to see you made it home alright." What she should have said was "I missed you." But the only thing that escaped Sakura's lips when she heard the front door open was a sigh. Sasuke was home from a mission that lasted three months, and nothing had changed since his departure. She couldn't care less whether he was home or not at this point in their marriage, because his presence didn't do very much for her anyway.

Sakura took the bottles of medicine she had just finished filling, and made her way down the stairs from her office. There he was, as usual, setting his things down at the door. She looked him over from her place on the stairs, and was surprised to see a small stain of blood on his shirt. It was on the side, so he had to be injured. Otherwise he would've changed, this she knew. Even as she stood there, he didn't say anything. He didn't acknowledge her. She expected it.

"How was your mission? Successful, I assume." She continued down the stairs and continued to the kitchen. Of course his mission was successful. His missions were always successful. She didn't know why she bothered asking in the first place. At least it ruined the uncomfortable silence that would come if she didn't ask.

"Fine. No critical injuries, no mistakes. Everything went fine." Sasuke dropped his bag to the floor. Was he glad to be home? No. Was he glad his mission was finally done? Yes. Many people thought of home as a place of comfort, but not him. His home was, in a single word, awkward. He had a nice home, a beautiful wife, he guessed his job was decent enough for him, yet every time he returned he felt out of place. Sasuke looked around the perfectly clean living room of the Uchiha complex and wondered what had drove Sakura to clean the carpet so thoroughly. It took him a second to decide that it wouldn't kill anything to walk over it to reach the couch. "and things at the hospital?"

"Same as it was before. More sick and injured people needing help." Sakura had put her bottles in the refrigerator and was now turning up the heat on the stove. Then she was hit with an idea. "Sasuke, it's been a while since we went out. Do you feel like going out to eat tonight?"

Sasuke glanced over at the kitchen door from his spot on the couch, and instantly knew what Sakura was trying to tell him. What she was basically hinting at was that dinner wasn't going to be great tonight if she had to make it herself. Not that anything she made was wonderful, but tonight especially was going to be terrible.

"I suppose."

"Good." Sakura turned the stove off. He'd gotten the message. He usually did. "I need to run to the hospital to sign a few papers. It's around six now, and I won't be gone long, so we'll leave at around eight?" 'Nine.' She thought to herself.

"Nine. We'll leave at nine." Sasuke said, rising from the couch and making his way to their bedroom. He wasn't tired, but he knew from the way the conversation was going that it was about to dry out. Then they would both be sitting there, staring at each other, not exchanging words, and thinking about how they had gotten to this point. He'd rather go to sleep, or at least try.

Sakura heard his footsteps as he climbed the stairs, and couldn't help but feel a little relieved. The hardest part was over.

A/N: Yes, I know it's short. The next chapter will be longer, and those following if any. Reviews loved, welcomed, and hoped for.


	2. Why Bother?

Chapter 2- Why bother?

"I don't know, Ino." This was where she had ended up. In actuality, there was nothing for her at the hospital. Sasuke probably knew that already, seeing that she always found somewhere to escape to when he returned. Just another excuse.

"I asked you to name one thing you loved about Sasuke, and you tell me 'I don't know?'" Ino stood behind Sakura in the wall length mirror in her bedroom. Sakura had come over not long ago, something Ino was expecting to happen. At the moment, she was trying to figure out the best style for Sakura's long, pink tresses. "Have you ever thought about getting a haircut? This is getting ridiculous."

"His eyes." That was it. She loved his eyes. She could absolutely drown in his eyes. Lately though, she'd been learning how to swim. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was seven o'clock. She still had time to sort through a few more thoughts.

"Sure. His eyes. A common one, but that's good for you. At least you finally came up with something." Ino grabbed the scissors from her dresser and began giving Sakura what she thought was a well needed haircut. "Not too short." She muttered.

"Hm?"

"I said not too short. Don't move unless you want a really bad haircut." Ino continued with her cutting as Sakura was forced to stay still and become more acquainted with her own face, which seemed to glare at her from inside the mirror. She looked tired, bored, and indifferent. She supposed it wasn't an illusion, that's how she felt. When she was thirteen, being married to Sasuke seemed like a dream. Now, it was turning out to be much less than. It wasn't that she didn't love him. She loved him, but the problem was she didn't love him enough. She glanced down at the ring on her finger. She'd worn that ring for three years now. When they were eighteen, she and Sasuke hadn't wasted any time getting married. It seemed like he wanted more than she did, but he did want it. That alone had surprised her. She supposed she was afraid the opportunity would pass, so she took it when she could. Mistakes, mistakes.

"I'm just bored. He'll be off of duty for at least a week, and during that time I'll have to come up with things to say, things. It's like a second job." Sakura herself was slightly surprised at what she'd just said. A job? That was no way to think of your relationship with your husband. Since when had the status of being Sasuke's wife becomes so troublesome for her?

"Remember the day you were married? You told me, in the bride's room, that you weren't sure." Ino put the scissors down. When the question of 'Does anyone object?' was asked at the wedding, she should've raised her hand. Maybe her best friend would have been better off. Unlike Sakura, Ino was taking her time settling down, and she was taking even longer to agree to a wedding. Not that her dear Shikamaru was any kind of rush either, so there really wasn't much of a problem. That was the way things had worked out for them lately. Ino was with Shikamaru, though their relationship was still only passing the casual stage. Sakura and Sasuke were the only two that went for the rings in their circle of people. Needless to say, it shocked everyone a bit since at the time it hadn't even been apparent that they were dating at all. Ino still wasn't sure that they had been.

"Alright, one more question. Why?" Ino asked, taking a few pins from a case. Sakura's hair was now about shoulder length, so she was going to pin some of it up, slightly elegant in style. After nearly finishing the short task, she realized Sakura still hadn't answered her question. Her wording may have been simple and lacking in specifics, but after glancing into the mirror in front of her, she knew Sakura had understood its meaning. Her eyes were cast at the floor, and she seemed to be pretty deep in thought. "Sakura…"

"Because I said 'yes' Ino. Because I said "I do." That's why. I can't just leave him, not now." Sakura returned. She'd promised she'd be there forever, through anything, no matter what. She couldn't just break that. She couldn't. No matter what, she couldn't just walk out of Sasuke's life, like he had walked out of her life when they were genin.

There was silence.

* * *

Sasuke sighed as he made a final knot in his tie, which he despised wearing. He hated dressing up, he always had. Tonight though, he didn't think he had a choice. He was pretty sure that Sakura was going to go beyond casual, since he'd been away for a while. The last thing he felt like doing was having her give him the look that says 'I care more about us than you do.' He glanced into the full-length mirror in his bathroom, and decided he was as dressed and ready as he was going to be, physically. He'd bandaged the small cut on his side, which he'd been quite disappointed with himself for having. The only thing that bothered him concerning the cut now was the fact that Sakura had seen it and, apparently, ignored it. Being a medical specialist herself, he thought she would have at least offered to quickly get rid of it. She didn't though, and he refused to give it much thought. That was the last thing he needed more of.

After walking out of the bathroom, he found himself in their bedroom, sitting on their bed. It used to be one of his favorite places, but now it had become the most uncomfortable place in the entire house. Tonight, he'd have the opportunity to lie next to Sakura, hoping to fall asleep before she did. Because the one of them that was awake while the other slept had the hardest time falling asleep in the first place.

Sasuke glanced at the clock, the enormous clock on the wall above their bed. The one that Sakura just had to have or else they would have perished without knowing the time. It was eight forty-four. At eight fifty, she'd be walking through the door, ready to go. This he knew. There weren't surprises for them anymore, and there wasn't one tonight either. He heard the door open approximately six minutes later, and congratulated himself mentally for being correct.

She stood in the doorway. He had to admit, she looked great. She was wearing a red dress, knee length; he didn't think he'd seen it before. Maybe he had, not that it mattered. Her hair was a little past her shoulders now, slightly shorter than it had been when he arrived. She was wearing a little extra makeup, not much. She looked great. Too bad he hadn't gotten a haircut too, maybe then they'd both be, for once, on the same level.

"I assume you're ready, no?" Sakura said, looking him over from her place at the doorway. He was, and she knew it. He looked…the same as usual when they went out to dinner. It was a black dress shirt, black pants…red tie. It was his favorite combination. It suddenly occurred to her that he still hadn't mentioned that cut from earlier…perhaps he thought she hadn't noticed at all. Such a wonderful time to wear dark colors, then.

Sasuke nodded in response, and off they were. Silence nearly drowned them along the way.

* * *

Neji was having a seriously hard time right now. He, of all the times to be late, had chosen tonight. Chosen wasn't quite the word he would've used in this case, but he'd taken 'fated' out of his vocabulary for the most part. He was on his way to the restaurant he and Tenten had agreed on meeting at earlier that week. Shikamaru took longer than he ever would have expected to explain the strategy that his ANBU team would be using for a mission later that month. There was no way he was going to leave early and look irresponsible in any way, or perhaps lacking, so he'd simply listened and waited. Now he was late, and he could see her sitting at one of the tables through the decorated window of the place as he took a breath. This would be the end for them, tonight. He knew that much was true. That's the reason she had invited them to the place they'd concluded that they were together. So she could conclude that they would be no longer.

Though she wouldn't admit it to him, ever, he knew the reason why as well. Lee and Tenten had been rather close lately, and to be honest she was on the border of infidelity. That was something he would never agree to, and he would much rather them cut their strings now than to have her do anything like that. How did he know all of this in the first place? Though he sensed much of it from clues he'd picked up on his own, it was his best friend (if one could say that Neji had a best friend) Lee that had told him of his interest in Tenten. He wasn't happy with the fact, at all. But the honesty that had been shown in the situation gave him at lot of respect for the Taijutsu-skilled man.

As he walked into the restaurant, Tenten immediately noticed his presence. She was slightly nervous. Little did she know that her news wasn't quite as surprising as she may have thought. She tried to smile at him when he sat down across from her, but it was weak, and it was empty.

"ANBU meeting lasted a while. Sorry I'm late." Neji explained more so than apologized.

"It happens." Tenten was still trying to smile at him, but those bold, brown eyes had already given her away. Neji saw that.

"You know why we're here Neji. Lee told me he told you…did he?"

Neji nodded. He looked at her now. "He did."

Tenten glanced away, the world outside suddenly more interesting by the second. She was feeling a bit uncomfortable, more than a bit. She was wishing, deep down, that he would just leave now since he already knew. What did he really want to hear from her? A story? An explanation? A reason why she'd chosen Lee over him? She didn't know, and regardless she didn't think she could answer to any of those request very well.

"I heard it from him Tenten; I never heard it from you."

So that's what he wanted…he wanted to hear her say it. He wanted to hear, from in Tenten's voice, that it was over. She felt like crying, somewhere in the wave of emotions she was feeling, but more than that she felt like getting this entire even over with so they could move on.

"Neji, I think it's better that we not see each other anymore, not like we have been. Lee and I…we're becoming a bit more than friends lately. And you and I…may be better off as friends. Is that what you wanted to hear? Anything along those lines?" She was hoping she didn't sound angry when she said this, because really she had no right to be. But at the same time, she didn't think he had a right either. It wasn't as if she ran off with Lee in some back alley, or anything like that.

Neji himself, by now, was already seeing where this was going. Towards a pointless argument, not his first might he add. "I just wanted to make sure it's what you wanted. To hear you tell me, not Lee."

"How do you feel, Neji? Does this at all hurt you?" Tenten was a bit upset that he seemed so nonchalant about the entire thing.

"No…I'm not hurt. I'm just understanding." Neji returned.

This was either going to be the longest night of Tenten's life, or the shortest 'date' Neji had ever been on.

* * *

Sakura glanced over her menu, only to find her dear husband still searching through the same menu he'd seen dozens of times for, apparently, something new to try. She knew what he was doing. He wasn't looking for a new item, he was buying time. Once the menus were gone, and neither of them had anything to look at other than the threads of the tablecloth, he'd be forced to say something to her, or vice versa. Instead of waiting for Sasuke to run out of time, she decided that perhaps she should cut it a bit short this time and attempt to start an interesting dialogue between them.

"Tsunade brought up an interesting idea a couple of days ago."

"Really?" Sasuke replied, still not taking his eyes off of his menu. What was she talking about now…at least she was talking.

"ANBU. They're lacking in advanced medics lately." Sasuke put the menu down and looked at her. That's what she was trying to bring out, the fact that she was thinking of joining ANBU…again. In the past, she'd thought about it and he'd always found a way to talk her out of it. Not because he didn't think she was capable, but because he knew she was fallible, as was he. Anything could happen in ANBU, and some of the things he found himself facing as a member he didn't want her to have to go through. While he was away, one of the comforts he had was knowing that Sakura was safe in Konoha. Though they might at a rough point in their relationship, he still valued that a lot. If she were to join, he would have to wonder, he didn't want that. Although he knew it was hypocritical of him in a way, since it was Sakura who did the worrying now.

"I don't think it's a good idea, Sakura. I didn't last time you told me you wanted join." He contended. He wanted to change the subject, and he wanted to change it fast. But he knew it wouldn't be that easy. But this, like many topics, was an argument waiting to happen or getting in line for its turn.

"I know. I'm here all the time, Sasuke, and believe me when I say it does get a bit boring. Same thing all the time. ANBU needs medics, I'd be helping out."

"The first target, if the opponent can pick them out-"

"Is the medic, I know. You've told me, I read it in the same manual you read it in." Sakura retorted. He just didn't want her to reach his level in ANBU, he didn't think she could do it. She knew it. This was not how she had planned their dinner conversation.

"Sakura, I'm not trying to fight with you about it. I'm not comfortable with you joining ANBU, I'm not. Just letting you know. I can't stop you from joining, you'd do it whether I agreed or not if you were determined to join." Sasuke looked at her, eye to eye this time. This was the point that decided whether or not they were going to have a peaceful dinner or not.

Sakura sighed. She wasn't going to push the subject now, and certainly not at their current location. As she looked into eyes, realizing that she actually did like them, that's what she had decided. "Fine, you found what you wanted on the endless menu yet?"

When the waiter came, Sasuke spoke. He ordered the same thing he usually did, which served as his reply to Sakura's former question featuring her sarcasm. She followed, ordering her usual as well. Only when the waiter was walking away did she look past him to see…was that Hyuuga Neji sitting over there? It was. She didn't know much about him, other than the fact that he'd had few family problems back when they had taken the Chuunin Exam, and that his teammates had once been Tenten and Rock Lee. Wasn't he in ANBU? He was, he'd only been to the hospital a handful of times though, that she had seen.

"Neji's here, look." She said, glancing over at where Neji was sitting, apparently alone. Sasuke looked over, though not as slyly as Sakura had and immediately caught eyes with the Hyuuga. There was acknowledgement that they had seen each other, but that was it. They weren't the best of friends, but they weren't enemies either.

"Hm." That was Sasuke's response, showing just how overjoyed he was at the fact. He was about to ask when the food was coming, but he wasn't as hungry as he thought.

Sakura glanced over once again at where Neji was sitting. He really was handsome…

A/N: This chapter is just a bit longer than the other one was. Feedback is appreciated and loved, as usual (Even though most people don't review.) Feel free to make suggestions, as I could probably use them.


	3. I See Nice Things!

Chapter 3

Sakura held Sasuke's hand as they made they're way back to the house they lived in. She didn't think of it as much of a home right now, she wasn't all that comfortable there anymore. People smiled at them as they made there way back home, as they usually did. Not many believed that Sasuke would be able to recover from his tragedy enough to settle down with anyone, but to the shock of the community he had a wife now. However, he certainly wasn't over it. Records had reported Itachi's death about year earlier, and it had angered Sasuke to no end that he hadn't been the one responsible. Deep down, he would never really accept Itachi's death as reality. Sakura was quite sure that if it ever came to be proven that Itachi wasn't dead, Sasuke wouldn't hesitate to make her his second priority. That is, if she was ever really his first.

When they both arrived at the double doors of their house, Sakura realized how much she dreaded going in. For the first time in months they were going to have to face each other and recognize how much they had drifted apart.

Sasuke unlocked the door and gently pushed Sakura in. "It's cold in here." He'd be warmer lying the snow mid-winter.

"Feels fine to me, but I'm probably just used to it." Sakura wasn't going to wait long for a response, as she was already making her way up the stairs. She could sense Sasuke coming behind her, and she ignored him. All she wanted right now was to be asleep in bed so this day could be over with. Unless Sasuke had other plans, although she doubted he did.

She immediately began changing clothes when she arrived in the bedroom. Sasuke watched her change, feeling a bit put down. Not that he would tell her that. He'd always thought she was stunning, and he was seeing that all over again tonight. That's all he was seeing right now. It had been three months (and at least a week he was sure) since thy had been together, and he'd turned down any of the women that happened to approach him while he was away. He wasn't that kind of man, not yet. He hoped he never would be. "You couldn't wait for me?"

"Sorry, just a bit tired." Sakura continued, searching through her drawers for something to sleep in. She did plan on sleeping in something tonight, and she was hoping it wouldn't be a full pajama set. She wasn't going to go that far to paint a picture. "It's been a long day for me."

"It couldn't have been as long as mine." He stood next to her, his own reflection in the mirror next to her half-clothed one. Sakura was still shuffling through the different articles of clothing, and he gently took hold to on of her wrists. She stopped for a moment, and her eyes focusing on his.

"Would you rather take hints or have me tell you, Sasuke?" Sakura said whispered. She knew what he wanted, but she also knew it would be a waste of her time and only cause her more stress. Pleasure for an hour wasn't worth stress for forty-eight or more. Not to her in this case.

Sasuke sighed loudly as let as he released his grasp on her. "Things can't stay like this Sakura, you know that. I thought about it when I was away." He stared removing his own clothes as she began putting on new ones. "I'm not sure if you did the same thing or ignored it like we're trying to do now." One of them had to bring it up, and he figured he might as well be the one.

Sakura took a breath as she took the time to sit, feet on the floor, on her side of the bed. "I'm not ignoring it Sasuke, I just don't have the means to acknowledge it. What do you want me to do?"

"What do you want me to do?" Sasuke threw her own question back at her. He couldn't do anything either, not by himself.

"I don't know." Sakura said, slightly laughing to herself. This was going in just the direction she had been trying to avoid for the past few months, towards a meltdown of emotions that she didn't want to deal with. She felt the bed sink slightly as Sasuke added his own weight to his side, which had been empty for the past few months. He sat in the same position she did, and ran a hand through his hair. He never would grow it long for obvious reasons.

They both sat there for a long while, in the dim light the moon was shoving through their windows.

* * *

Neji collapsed on the ground in a sweat from his favorite method of busying himself. He was going to need another tree, and hopefully some kind of new hobby. The largest tree in the Hyuuga training grounds was littered with more shuriken and kunai than Neji cared to count. In his current state the chance that he would try wasn't completely out of the question. Neji Hyuuga was bored beyond belief. It was late or perhaps too early for him to be awake: past midnight and before morning. Sleep had escaped him, and he found himself at a loss of anything to do. His feet led him to his current location. 

In actuality, he didn't want to train at all. For once, he wanted to try something that didn't relate to his never-ending life as an elite ninja and ANBU captain. That's what had drawn him to Tenten. She took his mind off of work and gave him something else to focus on and think about when things got a little rough on the fields of danger he found himself in. Everything was wonderful, but that's always how things start. They went out often; she showed him a few things he seemed to have missed growing up. After a while it began to seem like they had climbed a hill backwards, reaching the top quickly only to slowly but surely go sliding down the other side. The good thing was neither of them seemed to be seriously attached to each other. It wasn't hard for him to end it, especially when he knew it was at its end already.

Neji stared at the kunai and shuriken décor on the tree as he thought about this. His mind went rushed over his very small sense of envy at seeing the ever popular Uchiha couple together. He had nothing against the couple, but they had made his situation seem drearier than it had to be. He picked himself up off of the ground and began his long job of pulling the shuriken and kunai out of the tree, which he supposed kept him busy enough. Besides, he would need them all in a few days. ANBU admittance tests were coming, and he detested them.

* * *

Sakura awoke to the less than familiar feeling of Sasuke's arm over her waist. He was warm, but she was still uncomfortable. She glanced at the clock on the wall and resisted the urge to throw him off of her. It was 8:30…she had to be at the ANBU office in an hour. All she had to do was sign a few papers before she came back, so it wasn't going to be hard to get done. However, she had to get there first. That meant getting Sasuke out of the way for a quick moment. 

"Sasuke…"

Sasuke instinctively turned over, breaking the contact. Perhaps too instinctively due to the fact that he wasn't asleep. "I'll take it black."

"I'm making Tea this morning." Sakura crawled out of bed just as Sasuke pulled himself up, a brow raised in questioning.

"Tea?" He could barely believe his ears. He had coffee every morning, always. Sakura did as well, they both loved the caffeine. It was one of the traits that allowed them both to get along a little bit better.

"Tea is better for us. Too much caffeine can make it hard to go without." Sakura preferred coffee herself, but they were out of that today. She didn't want Tea either, but she was late and this is what she had come up with. If all else failed, she could just make a necessary trip for coffee.

"You don't like Tea enough to make that change." Sasuke argued. Something was seriously wrong with his wife this morning. Of all the things she could have done to make this morning a rough one, he wasn't sure she could have thought of anything better. They needed a new routine, true enough, but this wasn't a change he wanted. Was she intentionally trying to start something?

"All we have is Tea right now. Not that the change would kill us." The world didn't equate to coffee in the morning for her. Apparently, he didn't feel the same way. "If it would make you feel better, I'll run out and get some. I have to head to the store anyway."

Sasuke sighed. "I'm going back to bed today, haven't slept in for a while."

"Do you want the tea or not? I'm not making the tea if I'm the only one who's going to drink it." Her temper was getting the better part of her now. This wasn't about morning beverages, not really. She just wanted to see how he would take the change, and he failed miserably. The smallest thing and he couldn't deal. She glanced at Sasuke, who had already returned to his former position. "Sasuke?"

"I don't care Sakura." replied his muffled voice. Sasuke could already tell this wasn't going to be a great day. All he wanted now was for his much loved wife to not start an argument over something as petty as what they were drinking in the morning.

Sakura began to shuffle through her drawers for something to wear. She really needed to organize her stuff one day. She found one of her casual outfits, which she had quite a few of since she rarely had to dress in strict uniform. Sasuke laid awake even when he heard the shower come on.

* * *

'You won't make it, anyway.' That's what Neji was thinking as he watched yet another hopeless Jounin shuffle through a stack of mandatory paperwork. For some reason, every Jounin in Konoha felt like this year was the apex of their careers, making ANBU their first priority of the day. He'd watched as Jounin, and even a few chuunin, came through the lines and various department stands. He was almost done though, as four out of his five examinees had been assigned. He was positive that none of them would actually end up in ANBU. 

Neji leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. One more person and he was done.

"Greetings Neji. I didn't know you were an examiner." Sakura said, gathering her own paperwork together in a folder. After going through phase after phase in this long process, she'd ended up at Neji. Apparently, he would be the one to decide whether she was in or not. She wasn't sure what that meant for her chances, but she could only hope for the best.

"Hn." Neji himself was a slightly surprised to see the medic standing before him. She didn't seem like the ANBU type. She was the crying type in her youth, and whether or not she'd toughened to a sharp point was an unknown value. Neji took the folder as Sakura handed it to him and gave her another in exchange. "You're not done, if you were thinking that.

Sakura sighed as she sat down in front of him across the table. She clicked her pen, which she believed was going to run empty if she had to sign another paper. "It never ends."

"I would advise you not to expect it to."

"I know better than that, although I should be used to it by now." Sakura responded, slightly humored. It was silent for the next couple of minutes as Sakura blazed through line after line of text and signatures. His eyes seemed to stay on her, but she was hardly bothered. It was more attention that she had on her than in the past few months, and she actually welcomed it. She pushed the folder away from her slight movement when she was done, hoping that was the last of it.

"It's in your interests, more so a necessity, that you read this. "Neji said, handing her a scroll. "It's schedule of examination days and events."

"Ah, Thanks. I assume you'll be over those as well?"

"Correct." Neji said getting up from the spot he'd spent the last few hours in. He was more than ready to leave the noise and hysteria.

"I guess I'll see you then." Sakura said, watching him. He was already walking away from her, and only glanced behind him to acknowledge the fact that he'd heard her. He wasn't the most social, but he wasn't nearly as bad as he could have been. The examinees at Ibiki's table probably had it worse than she did.

A/N: Summer is here, so is free time. So updates should come a lot faster now that I'm not as busy. Review if you please, it's encouraging.


	4. Coffee Over Common Sense

Chapter 4

Sasuke clicked through channel after channel, feeling the unusual need to watch television. Having gone without it for months at a time, he rarely paid it much attention. It wasn't doing him much good. No matter what he did he found himself feeling a bit bored and nonexistent. No question about it, he was quite sick of the dull routines and events that seemed the run his life. He was going on missions for ANBU, coming home, and waiting for the next mission to come up. He had nothing to really hope for at the moment, nothing to look forward to. His eyes glanced up at the clock on the wall…it was almost noon. Sakura had been gone since their trivial argument that morning. Since the store wasn't far from their house, he could only guess where she had gone. Probably to see her 'best friend forever and ever' Ino.

Sasuke rose up from his favorite spot on the couch and made his way into the kitchen. He couldn't cook worth anything, so he had to resort to looking through the cabinets for anything he could manage to make in the microwave. He was quite used to it at this point. Sakura never was, and never would be, much of a cook. His lips fell into a frown at the first thing he saw: Coffee, Amaretto at that. It was Sakura's favorite when it came to flavors. He'd lost whatever small appetite he had for food, but he still wanted his coffee. Before he could even turn on the coffee maker he heard the shuffling at the front door. He mumbled a "Welcome Home" to himself.

The door clicked shut and he heard the sound of bags and his wife dropping them on the floor by the kitchen door. "I see you're up."

"Surprised?" Sasuke asked, setting the bag of coffee down on the counter. Sakura noticed, but he doubted she would acknowledge it.

"Not really, you don't sleep past noon anyway." Sakura replied casually. She had to come up with a new topic before something petty turned into an argument that would ruin the entire day. "Have anything planned for today?"

Sasuke sighed. Most of the time, he would go along with Sakura's games for the sake of peace. Today, he couldn't find the will to do that. He would rather be the object of anger than to be ignored. "No, I don't. Do you? Or did you?"

Sakura released a sigh of her own this time. It was obvious she wasn't going to be able to avoid an argument today, as much as she wanted to. Yes, there was coffee in the kitchen that morning, but it was her emergency bag. She had something planned that morning, and she didn't plan on telling Sasuke where she had been. It would only make their already damaged relationship worse. She knew he would find out eventually, but she really wasn't ready to deal with it yet. "I did. I went to the store hoping you wouldn't open my coffee, the bag on the counter now."

"You caught me in time." Sasuke conceded, walking past Sakura to pick up the coffee behind her. "There's about twelve hours left in the day…how do you want to spend them?" Sasuke asked in a bored manner, leaning on the doorframe opposite of Sakura. His eyes met hers and it was almost as if a silent challenge had been issued. He was daring her to face the fact that they were having problems. "Because you can't avoid me all day, all week."

"Who says I'm avoiding you?" Sakura questioned, an eyebrow raised.

"You avoided me all day yesterday, and if you could, you'd do it again today." Sasuke stated. "Really, I know you better than you think." He returned to his previous activity of making his 'far too late to help anything' cup of coffee. Sakura resisted her urge to throw out whatever witty comeback she would have come up with, instead making her way upstairs to their bedroom. She had more important things to deal with than Sasuke, such as figuring out how she was going to make it into ANBU. She locked the door and sat down with scroll Neji had given her.

* * *

Uchiha Sakura… Neji took the time to look over her file yet again. That morning had been the first time he'd really noticed her at all. For the next week, he'd be seeing a lot more of her than he'd ever expected to. Out of the five examinees Neji would see, he thought Sakura had the least chance of becoming ANBU. Not that he had much to go on, but she didn't seem like the type. Far too happy and hopeful. Even in her profile picture on file she was smiling, and no one in ANBU was that happy everyday. 

"Tired of it yet?" Neji looked up from the files to see exactly who he didn't feel like seeing. Not that the green spandex hadn't caught his eye coming into the office area anyway. It was Lee, the man he couldn't help but resent a little at the moment. The situation among them put them both in an odd position.

"I'm almost done." Neji's response was simple, as he knew Lee wasn't their to talk about work. He was there to make sure he and Neji were on the same page. It was quite obvious, and Lee decided it would be better to simply get to the point.

"Tenten told me what happened. I'm just glad you're not upset about it, about us." Lee tried to choose his words carefully, as to not give anything away. "You're fine with it, right?"

"You would know if I wasn't." Neji said, slightly smirking to himself.

"Just wanted to make sure." Lee said, looking down. He couldn't swallow the guilt, not that easily. He was dating his best friend's former girlfriend. No matter which way it was twisted, things weren't going to be the same. Things changed when Neji started dating Tenten in the first place. Suddenly they were no longer a team of friends; they were a couple with a third wheel. Now Neji would be in his spot. The only sound in the room for the next minute or two was the near silent sound of the ceiling fan cutting through the air. "How's your new team for the next week?" Lee tried changing the subject to one that wasn't so heavy.

"Depends on how you look at them." Neji said, pushing the small stack of profiles towards Lee. Sakura's was on top, something Neji took a small amount of humor in at Lee's expense. Before Lee fell for Tenten, he'd spent his time going after Sakura. This ended as soon as she suddenly announced she was marrying Sasuke, and Lee never did take it well. He sat on the last row at the wedding. Neji did feel some small amount of pity for him at the time, even when he himself didn't quite understand why Lee took it so hard.

Lee looked through the profiles, pretending to care. "Sakura's in your group."

"Hm."

"Be nice to her." Lee said humorously, although he didn't really feel that happy about it. A part of him still saw Neji as the rival he could never beat. Even now he felt like he had never won against him.

Neji resisted the urge the smirk.

* * *

Sakura fell back onto the plush comforter of her bed. Examinations hadn't even started and she already felt tired. The schedule was a tough one. Not only did they have to do the training everyday, there would also be an exam each day, and a final one at the end of the week in front of all the examiners. Of all the weeks for Sasuke to be home, this was the least convenient of them all. Now she really would be avoiding him all day, and all week. There wasn't even time for her to get a plan together. The next morning, she had to get up and head over to the training grounds. Not just any training grounds, the one that belonged to the Hyuuga clan. Apparently that's where Neji wanted them to all meet during the week. That meant seeing Hinata and most likely Naruto at some point. Obviously she wasn't going to be able to keep her goals to herself. 

If she was going to train at all, she would have to do it today. All she had to do now was find someone to spar with her a bit. Her first choice was Kakashi, but he wasn't even in Konoha at the time being. She couldn't ask Sasuke…

Sakura pushed herself up from the bed and put the scroll in the back of her closet, with the clothes she never wore. Perhaps she couldn't find a sparring partner, but that didn't mean she couldn't prepare for Tomorrow. She unlocked the door, pausing a moment before finally stepping out into the hall. She slowly made her way down the stairs, spotting Sasuke lying on the couch. She walked right past him, intending on not even announcing the fact that she was leaving. She didn't really feel the need anymore.

"Avoiding me today?" Sasuke didn't even get a response before he heard the front door close. She was pissed at him, at he didn't even care.

* * *

As Sakura found herself approaching the entrance gate of the Hyuuga complex, she hoped that she wouldn't see Neji. That would ruin her entire plan of asking Hinata what kind of person he was. She wasn't sure that would help her much, but it could. Maybe. 

"Hey, Sakura!" Sakura smiled as the teenage girl came towards her. Sakura had become quite friendly with her after years of being friends with her older sister. As it was, they were friendly acquaintances.

"Hanabi, how are you? Is Hinata around or what?"

"Afraid not. She's out with Naruto, not sure where they went." Hanabi said, giving the pink-haired woman a friendly hug. "She might be back soon though."

"Oh. Tell her I stopped by when she gets back.I should really see her soon." Sakura tried to hide her slight disappointment. Now she had to take a step backwards and come up with another plan of action. She was leaving before planned, but she found herself cursing under her breath when she saw a certain Jounin coming before she could even leave the vicinity.

His eyes seemed to glow, even when it wasn't at all dark outside. He appeared less annoyed than he had been that morning, which Sakura supposed was a good thing.

"Exams start tomorrow Haruno." Neji stated, wondering to himself why he was finding himself facing this certain woman yet again in a single day. He supposed he could have run into worse people, though. Not that she was on his personal VIP list.

"I was actually coming to see Hinata, but it's nice to see you too." Sakura said, not missing the mistake. Not that she minded being seen as a separate entity from Sasuke for once in a while. In fact, she enjoyed it. People tended to not think of her as simply 'Sakura'. She was always 'Uchiha Sakura, wife of Sasuke, the lone survivor of the great Uchiha Clan.' The name seemed to plague every aspect of her life now. Why push it by correcting Neji?

"I assume you're confident in your abilities, since most examinees use this time to prepare." Neji remarked, trying not to humor himself too much with her slightly surprised expression. He couldn't judge her much, it wouldn't have been right. He had trained tirelessly the afternoon before his exams, and in the end it had hurt him more than it had helped.

Sakura found herself at a loss for a response. The last thing she wanted to do was make a terrible impression on the one person who could crush her goal. She didn't want to seem overconfident, but appearing insecure wasn't much better. The seconds ticked by, and all she managed to do in those moments was wonder why things couldn't just go smoothly sometimes. Neji's eyes were on her once again, and she felt like she was center stage and under the spotlight. "A little practice couldn't hurt."

"Yes, it could." Neji said offhandedly, making his way past her. "Save your energy."

By the time Sakura had looked over her shoulder, Neji had been long gone. She sighed and allowed her feet to lead her towards the only person she felt like talking to at the moment.

* * *

A/N: I'd like to thank everyone for reviewing the last few chapters, as I enjoyed reading them immensely and they make me happy. So...this is much later than planned, but hopefully I'll be able to get the next few out faster (I did start on the next one.) I want to speed things up a little, but I don't believe in insta-romance much. OO 


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